Come Home to Me
by Moebius
Summary: Buffy's Point of View as she looks for, and meets up with, Faith one hot summer night. Slash.


Disclaimers: Joss Whedon owns all the stuff in this story. Except the ideas. I own those.   
Spoilers: Nothing really.   
Notes: This is a companion fic to my story "She Called My Name" (which was originally title "Properties of Names", but that sucked so I changed it). You don't have to read that one to understand this one, since it's really the same story from Buffy's point of view. They work well together though. As with that one, this is a non-canon summer between Seasons 5 and 6, and Dawn doesn't exist.   
Summary: It's a hot summer night, and Buffy goes out to find Faith.   
  
---   
  
The air is so hot and heavy that it's almost like an invisible enemy keeping me from where I want to be.   
  
And keeping me from who I want to be with.   
  
My steps are annoyingly sluggish, and I swear it'll take forever to get to where I'm going, wherever that is. It doesn't matter if I know ahead of time; I'll find her anyway. That's part of what's so special, and part of whatever it is that's pulling me towards her.   
  
I'm the Slayer, damnit, can't I walk any faster?   
  
Pushing against the wall of heat that blankets the night takes to long, and I break into a run. I know where I'm going now, to the building that thrums like a heartbeat. She'll be there, because she is the Queen of Rhythm, and that place beats to the tune of her soul.   
  
I remember the first night I recognized that special part of her. When we were lying on the cool ground after a warm fight, and I realized that the beat of her heart matched so well to the beat of everything we did, from slaying to dancing to fighting with each other. Sometimes the beats melded, and sometimes she was a counter strike to everything else. From that night on, I heard her in every footstep and in every movement.   
  
I hear her now, in the thrum of the bass, even muted through the thick walls of the place. I stand for a second, and stare at the building, letting the heat absorb into my body. I take a breath and wait for the right moment, the moment I've been waiting for my whole life.   
  
Faith.   
  
I call to her. Across the night, across the heat, across the building and the music. There's nothing left to do now but wait, and I that's exactly what I'll do.   
  
I think it only takes a minute, though it seems like a year or ten. She's there: bursting through the door, her hair wild around her face, her cheeks flushed from whatever she'd been doing. She sees me and stops in her tracks.   
  
There's blood on her neck. The rhythm stops for a moment.   
  
"You called?"   
  
Good. She heard. It took me too long to get here; I didn't want to have to repeat myself.   
  
"You heard."   
  
Her eyes sparkle at me across the night, and the rhythm has started again. I step into her body, shaping myself to her, letting my lips rest against the wound on her neck. I don't ask where it came from.   
  
I wrap my arms around her, feeling the pulse of her blood beneath my lips.   
  
"I've been listening for awhile, B. I'm glad I finally heard."   
  
I tighten my embrace, sharing a thousand words with her silently. She freezes for a moment, as if deciding what to do. I know what she'll decide, though, I've deciphered her code, and I pull her towards her bike.   
  
"Please."   
  
For a moment, I revel in the power that I think I have over her; the ability to make her knees weak with a glance and to make her follow at the slightest request. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and as we ride down the streets I realize that there's no power I have over her that she doesn't have over me now. This isn't about power anymore, it's about something greater   
  
I press my lips to the back of her neck.   
  
The clouds open up as we stumble through the door, our arms tangled in each other. The rain falls, and I pull away from her. She looks quickly to the window, where over two years ago we crashed through to the balcony together. It's time to call her back from the past.   
  
"Faith."   
  
She turns and looks at me in a way that makes heart pound. I've been waiting all night to see it, and wonder how I could have been so blind for so long.   
  
"Buffy."   
  
I'm not sure if she's said my name before tonight, because the sound of her voice forming the word is like a new world to me. Tears spring uninvited into my eyes and I can't help but smile. She steps towards me quickly, closing the distance between us and pressing her lips to my forehead. I can hear her heartbeat, this close, pounding through her chest. As of tonight, our rhythms match.   
  
As of tonight, I'm home.


End file.
